


Hearts of Stone

by kilaem



Series: Art Shorts [7]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fanart, Hearts of Stone (The Witcher 3 DLC), M/M, Snippet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 08:31:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17763362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kilaem/pseuds/kilaem
Summary: You must be careful what you wish for... For there are consequences.





	Hearts of Stone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dexterous_Sinistrous](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dexterous_Sinistrous/gifts).



> originally posted 20/05/2018

“Derek, I wish to be with Derek. To gaze into those eyes, eyes the devil would be proud to have…”

The words echoed in Stiles’ mind as sleep began to drift over him, the rose of remembrance clutched firmly in his hand as he fought it. He felt the witcher take her leave from his world, the hollowing darkness shifting to press down on him again, the nightmares slowly beginning to wake once more.

But sleep didn’t come. The ache in his chest started slow, like it had the day his rose had crumbled, before turning sharp as it began to spread from his heart into his brain, into his stomach and travelling down his limbs like blades. Th onslaught of the panic was debilitating, gasping for air that wouldn’t come, air that didn’t exist—into lungs that didn’t exist. As the world around him began to warp, Stiles fell to his knees, clutching at the one thing he thought would keep him in his world, as the bright light surrounded him and wrapped around him tightly. He wasn’t supposed to die. The witcher hadn’t taken the rose. He wasn’t supposed to move on. He wasn’t ready, he wasn’t… He hadn’t seen Derek.

_Derek_.

* * *

The moonlight was beautiful, in a way. But it was dull. The temple ruins would’ve fascinated him, once, in days long since passed. Nothing moved him the way it used too. Like all things, Derek supposed, coming to a halt when he caught sight of the witcher. He wasn’t naive. He knew there had to be a greater purpose for not simply meeting in a tavern. “Strange choice of locale. Guessing there’s a reason for it?”

“Wasn’t me who chose it,” Allison replied, shaking her head from where she sat.

“I assumed so,” Derek grimaced, carefully making his way down the stairs towards her. “But since we’re here, I believe you have something for me.”

“Fulfilled your third wish,” Allison said.

She reached into her bag, handling it carefully—as carefully as Derek once had. But it wasn’t a rose that she gave to him, no. “What is this?” Derek asked slowly, unrolling the scroll.

What little of a heart that Derek had left began to thud with anxiety at the image painted upon it, the style that he knew as well as the back of his own hand.

“A canvas. On it, your house, your husband, and the rose you gave him that day.”

“This is not what I asked for,” Derek snapped, his gaze drawn to Stiles and the violet rose in his hand.

“Phrased your wish wrong,” Allison shrugged in return.

“Not the first time. And it’s been my downfall,” he sighed, his gut churning with faint echoes of guilt. He knew he should feel more, and he despised himself for it. But he could still long for what once was. Derek wistfully tracked his face, the moles dotting his pale skin, the sad eyes staring back at him. “So beautiful… he looks alive.”

“He is, in a way. Stiles painted this, and then entered it.”

“What? _How_ …?”

Allison was silent for a moment, a frown faint across her scarred brow. “I don’t know… he loved you, maybe he just wanted to be close again?”

“He wished to be close? After all that passed?” Derek asked in disbelief, his mind racing with possibilities, battling against the yearning inside of him. “Stiles… what a mess we made of it all… If I’d only known then how it would end…”

If Stiles still wanted that, then maybe Derek could follow in Allison’s footsteps. Find a way into this painted world, and see him again. Beg for his forgiveness about everything that had come to pass. To be able to hold him again, even for the briefest of moments…

“Wha— What’s happenin’?” A burn shot through his heart, like the flames of a burning house around him, the flames licking at his skin but not once leaving a trace behind. “I feel as though… as though… a hot iron’s pierced my chest.” But now it was overwhelming, his knees buckling and scraping stone. He chest felt heavy, but lighter than ever before as he gasped through the pain.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting,” a voice called out from above, familiar and haunting as the Woman of Mirrors descended from the sky towards them, walking down an invisible staircase of her own creation. It was a smug voice that Derek longed to never hear again. “So glad to see everyone’s made it. How do you feel, von Hale? A little… less troubled, lighter on the heart?”

“Buccari. What do _you_ want?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’?” she asked, a sharp grin overtaking her face. “Your soul.”

“You forget. The pact states you can only take it once you’ve fulfilled three wishes and—”

“And we stand together on the Moon,” she recited boredly, waving her hand. A gust formed, sweeping the sand and dust away from the stone to reveal a crescent moon of white stonework. “Well, what do you know.”

“What—? No. We… we had a pact,” Derek argued, twisting and turning to look at the ground as panic began to overtake him. “The Moon is there. _There!_ Not…” His breath left him as she held the unbound scroll to the air, fear gripping him. “…Here.”

“I gave you what you wished for. Here, on the Moon, our contract you fulfill.”

“You… whoreson…” Derek snarled, glancing at Allison. Her eyes were wide and unsure, clearly unawares of what was to follow. He turned back to the she-devil, his mind racing as the contract burst into flames. “You cheated me.”

“I never cheat,” Julia disparaged, beginning to advance upon him.

“You did,” he argued, trying to keep his distance. The heel of his boot caught on the ground, sending him backwards. He scrambled back, not ready to face oblivion. “Stiles is _dead_. That wasn’t part of the agreement. You took Laura, and then you made me into _this_ and you took _him_.”

Her eyes shifted dangerously, when Allison stepped forward. “Wait.”

“Do not interfere, witcher,” Julia snapped. “Remember what I did to the last fool who interrupted me?”

“You grant wishes, right? Grant mine. Bring back Stiles and release Derek.”

“He must repay his debt.”

“Stiles is an innocent in this. He didn’t make any deals,” Allison spoke quickly, giving Derek the time to get to his feet. “Let him go, and I’ll take it on, we’ll call it mine.”

“You wish to give your soul for theirs?”

“No, but we can play for them. I lose, you take mine and Derek’s. But if I win, you release us both. And Stiles _stays_ alive like any other human.”

“And what do you propose we play? Gwent?” she asked mockingly, turning away from Derek.

Derek’s heart was racing, watching Allison gamble on nothing short of a miracle.

“Don’t know… Maybe we can bet… on a challenge. You know I’m good at accomplishing the impossible. Seen me do it.”

“Very well. But we shall do this my way,” Julia said, slowly, looking between the two of them. “I suppose I should let you say goodbye. For old times sake.”

With a clap of her hands, an icy cold gripped them as the sun began to rise, when a bright light appeared, more intense than anything he’d ever seen, blinding Derek before it disappeared, and the two women vanished without a trace.

A heavy gasping came from behind him and Derek turned, breathless, his heart soaring, as he laid eyes on Stiles for the first time in too many years.

“Stiles!” He cried, rushing over to his husband.

His hands shook as he hesitated at reaching out for the man he loved, when Stiles’ tear filled eyes met his. “Derek?”

“Yes, yes it’s me,” Derek nodded desperately, gut heavy with relief when Stiles reached for him. “You’re here. You’re safe.”

“I’m… I’m alive?”

“You are,” Derek smiled, unable to stop himself. He had faith that Allison would win. She had already done the impossible for him. She had given him back his heart, and everything he held dear.

They could start life anew.

 


End file.
